Great Train Robber Biggs a free man today

Biggs, who turns 80 this weekend, is severely ill with pneumonia and doctors have said there is "not much hope".

Justice Secretary Jack Straw said his decision to free him was based on medical evidence that Biggs's condition had deteriorated and that he was not expected to recover.

Last month, Mr Straw rejected Biggs's application for parole on the grounds that be was "wholly unrepentant" about his crimes. The decision on compassionate release was based on "different considerations", Mr Straw said yesterday.

"The medical evidence clearly shows that Mr Biggs is very ill and that his condition has deteriorated recently. His condition is not expected to improve," he said.

"It is for that reason that I am granting Mr Biggs compassionate release on medical grounds.

"I have, therefore, been satisfied that the relevant conditions have been met, which I was not in respect of the recommendation for parole."

Biggs was rushed to the Norwich and Norfolk Hospital from his cell at Norwich prison on Tuesday. At the time, his son, Michael, made a desperate plea for his father's release.

Mr Straw's decision means Biggs will be a free man for his birthday tomorrow – 46 years to the day since the robbery.

Although the decision was made yesterday, Biggs remained on "bed watch" overnight. The three prison service staff watching him will be withdrawn today, once the licence for his release is finalised.

His condition means he will be unable to celebrate his release. After a series of strokes, he is bedridden, fed through a tube and barely able to communicate.

Biggs, from Lambeth, south London, was a member of a 15-strong gang which attacked the Glasgow to London mail train in August 1963 and made off with 2.6 million in used banknotes. He was given a 30-year sentence but escaped after 15 months from Wandsworth prison in London by climbing a 30ft wall and fleeing in a furniture van.

He was on the run for more than 30 years, living in Australia and Brazil, before returning to the UK voluntarily in 2001 in search of medical treatment.

He was locked up in Belmarsh high-security jail on his return before being moved to a medical unit at Norwich prison. A spokeswoman for Michael Biggs said: "He is absolutely delighted and he hopes that his father will survive long enough to see his 80th birthday on Saturday."

Biggs's legal adviser, Giovanni Di Stefano, said: "He is being released effectively to die and that cannot be considered a victory. But it's a victory for common sense and Mr Straw has made the right decision. This man is ill, he's going to die, he is not going to any pub or going to Rio. He is going to stay in hospital."

Similar pleas for release on compassionate grounds were made in 2006, 2007 and in June, but refused.

Prison service staff presented the Justice Secretary's decision in a letter to Biggs at the hospital just after 5.30pm.

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of Napo, the probation officers' union, welcomed the decision, but said Mr Straw should have released the Great Train Robber in July when it was recommended by the parole board.

He said: "His medical condition was pretty desperate two months ago – he couldn't walk, he could barely talk and he posed no risk to anybody.

"It's just a great shame he wasn't released two months ago on the recommendation of the parole board."

But the train drivers' union Aslef criticised the decision. General-secretary Keith Norman said: "It's ludicrous that a man who was part of a gang that committed a violent crime and attacked an innocent man with an iron bar should be a person who deserves clemency."

'NOT MUCH HOPE'

ON HIS return to the UK after more than 35 years on the run, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs said his last wish was to buy a pint of bitter in a pub in Margate.

Instead, he was promptly thrown into prison. There were repeated attempts to convince ministers and courts that he should be let out and his supporters feared he could die behind bars.

Biggs, who turns 80 this weekend, is a very old, very sick man, struck down by a series of strokes.

He is severely ill in hospital with pneumonia and doctors have said there is "not much hope".

Justice Secretary Jack Straw said the decision to grant him "compassionate release" was made because he is not expected to recover.

Biggs is a much diminished figure from the cocky Cockney villain who, with a gang of other criminals, stole 2.6 million in used banknotes from the Glasgow to London mail train in August 1963.